Wells Fargo Heist

Nets Men $500,000

FORT LAUDERDALE — Three masked bandits ambushed a Wells Fargo armored truck crew in broad daylight on Monday, clobbered the guard with a gun butt, and made off with nearly $500,000 in cash.

The robbers, all wearing nylon masks and waving pistols, apparently were waiting in a white van parked at the rear of the Solid Gold night club in the 2600 block of North Federal Highway at 4 p.m., police said.

Guard Donald Bolvin, 51, was jumped when he returned to his truck after delivering a bag of cash to Solid Gold. He was about to get into the truck when the robbers pounced, police spokeswoman Sonya Friedman said.

"After they hit the guard, the masked men told the truck driver to cooperate or they would hurt him some more," Friedman said. "They then grabbed several bags of money, jumped back into the van and fled south on Federal Highway."

Bolvin, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was hit on the right side of the head by one of the thieves, Friedman said. An hour later, he was holding a piece of gauze to his head as crime scene investigators dusted the red armored truck for fingerprints. The Wells Fargo driver, Irwin Shitkoff, 64, was not injured.

Police were not able to get a complete description of the thieves, but their van was described as a late-model Ford, possibly an Econoline, license number PPD 80D or a combination of those letters and numbers.

Police said the armored car robbery was not related to a series of holdups in northeast Fort Lauderdale early Monday morning, though three men were involved in each. The robbers on Monday morning did not wear masks, and only one carried a gun.

The Solid Gold robbery was the second armored truck incident in South Florida in less than a week.

On Wednesday, police foiled a plan to rob a Brinks truck in south Dade County when undercover cops arrested the truck driver and two accomplices. The three men were nabbed at the Dadeland Mall.

Fort Lauderdale detectives and the FBI continue to investigate the Solid Gold heist. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 761-5700.